Jabberwock
by FidoDogstoyevsky
Summary: A guy with a grudge against the Jurai dies and Tenchi and Ayeka are around to see it. Contains minor violent content


Jabberwock  
Ok all the tenchi stuff don't belong to me and I ain't making any money off of this. This little fic is knida hard to describe but if you read it you'll get the idea.  
  
He lay dying, against a column of stone. He could remember very little except what had recently transpired, in the battle against the knights of Jurai. He saw the face of his beloved before him, eyes pleading for help as a knight cut her down where she stood. He remembered the rage...  
***********  
He had been whole once, at least in the sense that his life did not consist solely of bloodlust. He had been betrothed to a beautiful girl, and had not had to call upon the power in a very long while. They had been so happy together, he and...and he couldn't seem to remember her name, only her face as she died. That and the memory of what he did next...  
The knights had come in the middle of the night. They had broken into his home and declared he was guilty of high treason. His betrothed had run out of the bedroom to see what was going on. She knew what was going on and she yelled at the knights to leave him alone...  
What had followed had been a total bloodbath. The first knight whirled and cleanly stabbed his love through the middle and she sank to the floor, looking at him those pleading eyes. He did not exactly remember how things had gone exactly afterwards, only that his vision became red, and the claws along his arms had appeard. He knew that in his fury he had skewered the knight who still stood watching the blood run out of the murded woman with his tainted staff in hand and brought his claw up, tearing the knight clean in half. The other knights attacked him them, but he ignored the blows rained upon him and death incarnate moved in upon the knights...  
***********  
Afterwards the claws had remained, and a new feature began to appear. His face became twisted and his jaws elongated and grew. His teeth became razors, each half an inch long and his eyes...  
He knew what had to be done then. The Jurai must pay for this atrocity, they must be punished. Stealing the knights ship he took to the stars, determined to seek retribution...  
***********  
His vision refoucused and he saw a new knight, holding the legendary sword-tenchi in his hand. He moved his head, determined to know where he was going to be attacked from and he saw, he saw her. He struggled to get up and go to her, but his strength failed him and he slumped back against the post...  
***********  
Tenchi and Ayeka moved across the body strewn floor towards what appeared to have once been a man but was only recognizable so because of his hands. He sat in a puddle of his own blood, gazing at Ayeka with glassy eyes and leaning against a stone column. Ayeka stepped closer to Tenchi as they drew nearer to the man and she stopped about 15 feet from him. Tenchi turned to look at her.  
"Ayeka, what is it?"  
"Tenchi it's him... The Jabberwock... he kills Jurai of high standing without discretion..."  
Ayeka took a step back.  
"Please Tenchi let's leave, just let him stay here..."  
"Ayeka he's not going to hurt you. He's dying. It's important for someone to be around to hear his last wishes."  
Ayeka took another step backward but nodded.  
***********  
He remembered the years during his long hunt vaugely and what came to him was like pictures in a book. Images of combat and slaughter filled his mind and and always predominant were her eyes...  
***********  
Tenchi kneeled down next to the dying figure and waved a hand in front of his face. The response was slow and deliberate, as if he were some proud beast who wanted to die with dignity. When he spoke through his maw of razors it sounded guttural, like a beast.  
"Yosho? Is that you? You were the only one who understood, and that is the reason I did not hunt you down..."  
The man turned his head back towards Ayeka and smiled as best he could.  
"Look Yosho isn't she beautiful? And we shall be wed in just a week. Samsiri come over here please, and" the man let out a great cough and blood trickled out his mouth.  
Tenchi placed a hand on the figure's shoulder.  
"Hey don't talk now. It's gonna be all right you hear me?" Tenchi turned to Ayeka and nodded at her. "Ayeka come over here please. He's delerious and I think it would be best if we honored his wishes."  
"Tenchi I'm telling you that is The Jabberwock. If I get close to him he'll try to kill me. He seems to know your grandpa and bears him no grudge but if I come close then..."  
The figure coughed again and his arm fell away from his chest, revealing a hole that showed the stone column behind him. He coughed again and raised a hand towards Ayeka. "Samsiri why do you stay back? It's only me..."  
Ayeka took a trembling step forward.  
***********  
The most recent slaughter was the freshest in his mind. He remembered coming to Jurai to face Kagato and how he had found the group of knights. They had all recognized him and all were in the service of Kagato. The two best of their number had been sent out to stop the one called Tenchi...  
The rest had charged him and he soon began to bite and tear at the mass of warriors around him. One warrior had come to close to his jaws and fell to the floor hands at a throat that no longer existed. Another had tried to come up behind him and found himself stumbling backwards, a jagged hole from a spiked tail where his heart should be.  
He remembered a blast of energy that had thrown him clear of the knights and destroyed his tail. He turned to face the leader of the group who raised his staff in challenge. With a roar he had lept up and claws and staff clashed..  
He remembered how it had been a grueling battle. His opponent had knocked him down and was prepared to deliver the final blow when he had seen Samsiri's face before him. Not even concious of what he was doing he had kicked the knight backward and grabbed him by the shoulders. Turning his face skyward he had bellowed out a roar of pure hatred and fury. A red light welled, he was blown backwards, and he remembered no more...  
***********  
Ayeka kneeled down next to Tenchi and stared at the dying figure before her. He reached up a hand that was no longer cruel and blade like and gently stroked her face. Ayeka shuddered a bit and the figure dropped his hand.  
"So sorry Samsiri... So sorry I failed you..."  
The figure's eyes dimmed and he saw no more.  
Tenchi and Ayeka jumped when the figure began to change into the form of a handomse man, without claws, or teeth, or red eyes. He stared peacefully ahead, now forever unaware.  



End file.
